The final straw that led to a billionaire CEO’s desperate escape from Japan inside a 3 ft box has been revealed.
Carlos Ghosn was the CEO of Nissan and had managed to save the company from bankruptcy when he decided to flee the country in a 3 ft box.
The bizarre decision was made after he was faced with serious allegations surrounding his finances.
Ghosn was initially arrested and released on bail after he was suspected of underreporting nearly $80 million in compensation and misusing company assets.
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Ghosn was granted bail under strict conditions including constant surveillance and a ban on communicating with his wife.
But with the threat of a life imprisonment looming over him, Ghosn decided to plan a great escape without anyone knowing.
The mogul chose to hide himself inside a custom-made 3 ft box under the guise of it being used to transport musical instruments.
He explained: “The plan was I could not show my face so I have to be hidden somewhere and the only way I could be hidden [was] to be in a box or be in a luggage so nobody could see me, nobody could recognize me and the plan could work.”
Using musical instruments in this case ‘was the most logical one, particularly that around this time there were a lot of concerts in Japan’, and he enlisted the help of former US Army Special Forces soldier Michael Taylor to carry out the operation.
In order to get out of his house he ditched his typical suits in favor of jeans and trainers, and this allowed him to reach the hotel where Taylor was staying and the box was waiting.
Ghosn continued: “When you get in the box, you don’t think about the past, you don’t think about the future, you just think about the moment.
“You’re not afraid, you don’t have any emotion except the huge concentration on ‘this is your chance, you can’t miss it. If you miss it, you’re going to pay with your life, with the life of a hostage in Japan’.”
He managed to pass through security as Taylor and his son argued that the case was too valuable to go through the x-ray scanner, and his private jet miraculously took off and landed without issues in Lebanon — a country without a extradition treaty with Japan.
Ghosn conducted a press conference as soon as he landed, revealing his crazy escape and argued that he did not escape justice, but instead fled injustice as he believes that he was innocent.